Fire and Air: A Life on the Edge [Hardcover]

Patty Wagstaff (Author), Ann L. Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

A woman testing the limits in life and in aviation.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Wagstaff spent the first 30 years of her life surviving a dysfunctional family, an abusive marriage, and the counterculture. She then learned to fly with such authority that she won the U.S. National Acrobatic Championship thrice (she is the only woman to win it at all) and became an acknowledged leading figure in airshow displays and competitive acrobatics. She describes her earlier years in such a melange of New Age jargon, psychobabble, and feminese that one wonders whose voice is speaking (perhaps professional coauthor Cooper's). But then she and the book take to the air, delivering a classic flyer's narrative and imparting far more genuinely interesting information about modern acrobatic competition, its people and machines, and Wagstaff herself. So here are two books, really, flying in close formation, one likely to appeal to aging hippies, maybe, while the other tells the tale of a real champion. Roland Green

Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; First Edition edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556523106
• ISBN-13: 978-1556523106
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #686,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than an aerobat, May 24, 1999

By 

Douglas Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire and Air: A Life on the Edge (Hardcover)

In the office of my flight instructor, there is a framed autographed poster hanging on the wall showing an Extra 300S banked at a reasonable angle in a climb. Closer inspection reveals that the background of sky and ground is reversed, the plane is actually at the top of a loop, heading downward. The top left headline reads, "Man was not meant to fly like this" and the sassy bottom tag line reads, "Man doesn't." A picture of Patty Wagstaff, flashing a provocative, over the shoulder smile, completes the image. That poster was my final nudge to begin aerobatic training, and I purchased this book to gain insight into the life of someone who not only mastered the field of competitive aerobatics, but also learned how to market her skills effectively. I wanted to know how she did it, and where the drive came from.

The answer is surprising, and painful. One begins to wonder if she would have bothered if her family of origin had been more normal, more pleasant, or if she had been allowed to give her talents free rein. Would we be celebrating her artistry in watercolor, instead of aerial performance? The first third of the book is gritty, and reads like an exercise in emotional therapy, of a boomer coming of age when society was tearing itself up. Start reading it by playing some CD's of the era, or the Forrest Gump soundtrack, turn on the UV lamp and light up an incense stick.

For the remainder, pull your harness extra tight and hang on. It is a fast ride, from learning to fly at 30 to entering her first contest at 34 to becoming US National Champion at 40. The value she places on having good friendships is obvious, as she names and credits everyone who helped her along the way. She was a teachable ex-hippie, who quickly made peace with machinery and power. She also had the inestimable advantage of a husband who introduced her to flying and enabled her gypsy lifestyle to enter contests and airshows. Not many of us can say, "Honey, I need a new $200,000 plane to be competitive this year." Well, we can say it, but it won't happen for most of us.

Pilots will enjoy the technical footnotes, but I recommend this book for anyone wanting to know what it takes to excel in any field, or to recover from a less than perfect start in life.

Patty's answer? It takes all that you have.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding read, September 30, 1999

By 

Aske Plaat <[e-mail]> (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire and Air: A Life on the Edge (Hardcover)

Why is flying so great? That is the question I've often asked myself.

Some biographies of super-pilots don't go much further than to say that flying was all the author ever wanted to do since he was a kid, and then fail to make clear what it really is about flying that touches them so deeply. In this book, however, the author sheds more light on the issue. She tells us about the feelings and emotions that flying an airplane evokes. Wagstaff really tries to make you feel what goes on in her head (or heart) when she flies, why she gets such a kick out of flying.

To me, that was the aspect of the book that really stood out for me. For the rest, the book was just a fascinating read. Wagstaff has lead an amazing life, and she writes well about it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I have read in a long time., February 26, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Woodbridge, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire and Air: A Life on the Edge (Hardcover)

I appreciated the honesty in this book. Especially concerning the struggles and sacrifices it takes to become number one in your field. This book has inspired me to go as far as I can in the aviation world.